The Lot-et-Garonne department in southwest France is protesting Airbus Industrie's decision to convey subassemblies for the A380 transport using surface transportation. The subassemblies will be built in the U.K. and Germany. Outsize trucks would carry the wings, fuselage sections and empennage from a harbor in western France to final assembly facilities in Toulouse. Members of parliament, however, claim the 300-ft.-long night convoys would raise serious environmental concerns (about 1,000 trees would be cut down) and significantly disrupt the sleep of local residents.
European industrialists are saying that a 10% industry commitment to the Ariane 5 Plus development program required by the European Space Agency's ministerial council cannot fully be met. Arianespace Chairman/CEO Jean-Marie Luton said earlier this month that ways would have to be found to compensate for his company's commitment, which helped plunge the firm into the red last year (AW&ST Jan. 15, p. 438).
The Commerce Dept.'s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has been testing ultra-wide-band (UWB) technology--devices that spread their transmissions across broad bands at very low power levels and offer great promise for wireless networks and wall-penetrating radars. The first tests showed these devices could operate in some bands in the 3-6-GHz. range without interference--with some important exceptions.
Recent magnetometer measurements from the Galileo spacecraft suggest that Jupiter's moon Ganymede has a liquid underground ocean today, buttressing other data that there was a salty interior ocean in the past. That adds Ganymede to the list of Europa and Callisto as likely ocean-bearing Jovian moons. The data also factor in the theory that Laplace orbital resonances played a powerful role in the evolution of Jupiter's moons, heating some but not others.
Paul Kahn (see photo) has been appointed managing director of Thales Acoustics, Harrow, England. Kahn was group business development director for Thales (formerly Thomson-CSF) in Paris.
Having introduced three upgraded Citation business jets aimed at reinforcing the company's grip on the entry-level market, Cessna is forging ahead with the larger Model 680 Sovereign, which is designed to do battle in the competitive ``super-midsize'' cabin class. The company's original business jet, dubbed the FanJet 500 but later known as the Citation, made its first flight in September 1969, followed in 1971 by FAA certification to FAR Part 25 standards. Initial deliveries began in 1972.
Edwin P. Goosen has been named vice president-business development for Honeywell Defense Avionics Systems, Albuquerque, N.M. He was director of surface vehicle systems. Goosen succeeds Jeffrey Peterson, who has become vice president/location executive for the Albuquerque operation.
Aviation Week&Space Technology is compiling a book of key e-business and information technology applications used by manufacturers and operators of business, commercial and military aircraft, missiles and spacecraft.
National Reconnaissance Office Director Keith R. Hall has been asked to continue serving in that position in the Bush Administration. He has held the post since March 1997. The reappointment will make Hall one of the longest-serving NRO directors.
The smoldering debate over airline competition in the U.S. is heating up fast, courtesy of former Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater. Last week, in a policy address in New York just four days before the curtain came down on the Clinton Administration, Slater encouraged his successor-designate--Norman Mineta--to use the Transportation Dept.'s (DOT's) authority to promote competition more aggressively.
Legend Airlines' plan to resume service later this month was put on hold last week when money promised by investors failed to materialize. ``We were really surprised by the turn of events, but the lenders have indicated they still want to do the deal,'' said President/CEO T. Allan McArtor. Officials of the Dallas-based startup carrier had received approval Jan. 16 from a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge to borrow $19 million from Legend Funding Group (LFG). As part of that loan, another $1 million from LFG had been approved late in December.
Mark DeWitt has been named general manager of Able Engineering, Goleta, Calif. He was vice president/general manager of the Applied Solar Div. of Tecstar Inc.
Pentagon planners want defense expenditures to increase to 4.23% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product from today's 2.9%. With that, the U.S. Air Force wants $20-30 billion more annually. Of this amount, the service wants to spend an additional $8 billion per year for 11 years (2006-17) to rebuild its rapidly aging fleet of fighters, tankers, airlifters and reconnaissance/intelligence-gathering aircraft at a rate of 150-170 new aircraft per year.
The European Commission (EC) has approved the proposed merger between US Airways and United Airlines after the latter carrier agreed to divest some of its takeoff and landing slots at Munich and Frankfurt airports. EC authorities said that given United's close cooperation with Star Alliance partner Lufthansa, the merger would ``substantially reduce'' competition on transatlantic flights between the two slot-constrained German airports and Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Boeing Satellite Systems will begin production of the 11th UHF Follow-On (UFO) spacecraft after receiving authorization from the U.S. Navy (see rendering). The spacecraft, which is to provide global communications for the armed forces, is scheduled for launch in 2003. The satellite will also include a high-capacity EHF subsystem, which is intended to provide enhanced antijam telemetry, command, broadcast and fleet communications using advanced signal processing techniques.
In an attempt to help satisfy the growing need for aviation mechanics, technicians and management personnel, the Robert C. Byrd National Aerospace Education Center (NAEC) has plans to double its existing space at the Mid-Atlantic Aerospace Complex.
In its quest to detect and classify targets unable to be identified by current technology, the U.S. Air Force plans to demonstrate a hyperspectral imaging capability that could drastically increase the number of targets a U-2 or other airborne reconnaissance system can spot.
Eric Kirchner has become vice president-North America for Emery Worldwide, Redwood City, Calif. He succeeds John Zarras, who has retired. Kirchner was vice president-Western North America.
Russia is poised to sell S-300 air defense missiles to Iran, renewing concerns in the region about Tehran's efforts to boost missile technology efforts, including its Shahab-3 and -4 missile programs.
Incoming Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld ``is a tough customer, but he's a friend of airpower,'' says a senior Air Force official who dealt with the Bush transition team. ``Rumsfeld's going to take a look at the Joint Strike Fighter program, get the thoughts of the advocates and the detractors and then call in the [Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force] service chiefs,'' he said.
t test engineers from the U.K.-based Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators for his work on the Concorde flight test team and during 20 years at Airbus Industrie. Iain McClelland, a flight examiner with the CAA, won the Brackley Memorial Trophy for his work with Associated Mission Aviation, a non-profit organization that provides food, fuel and medical supplies to remote villages in Indonesia. The Sir James Martin Award was presented to the Air Accident Investigations Branch team, which probed the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1998.
If the aerospace industry were being graded on its progress toward becoming lean, chances are it would score no higher than a C, and that might be generous. That's the assessment of James P. Womack, president of the Lean Enterprise Institute, and Deloitte Consulting partner David Fitzpatrick, two of the foremost authorities on developing and implementing lean production.
The Boeing Co. posted a strong fourth-quarter financial performance, led by the company's Space and Communications unit. Corporate-wide, earnings of $1.01 per share easily beat Wall Street's consensus estimate of 91 cents. That amount excludes $633 million in pretax, non-recurring charges but does include a lower tax rate. Overall sales were off 3%, to $14.7 billion. Commercial aircraft sales, while 13% lower than during the same period in 1999 due to production cutbacks from the peak in 1999, were still considered very healthy by Wall Street.
Now that the George W. Bush Administration is in place, there is much to be done on many fronts. The new team has the opportunity to address many issues involving the aerospace and defense industries, either botched by the Clinton Administration or just neglected. While every industry, private interest group or service sector is trying to lay claim to the attention of the new President and his team, the aerospace/defense sector has some unique problems, and thus challenges.
Northwest Airlines, already one of the top U.S. operators of Airbus equipment, has ordered 24 A330-300 widebody twin-engine aircraft for use on its transatlantic routes. Deliveries are scheduled from June 2003-06.
